| "Girl U Want" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Devo | ||||
| from the album Freedom of Choice | ||||
| B-side | "Mr. B's Ballroom" | |||
| Released | April 24, 1980 | |||
| Genre | New wave, synth-pop | |||
| Length | 2:56 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale | |||
| Producer(s) | Devo, Robert Margouleff | |||
| Devo singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Devo - Girl U Want (Video)" on YouTube | ||||
"Girl U Want" is a 1980 single by American new wave band Devo. It was the first single released from their third studio album, Freedom of Choice (1980).
"Girl U Want" was allegedly inspired by the song "My Sharona" by the Knack, [1] although Devo bassist and co-writer Gerald Casale has denied this claim. [2] The lyrics, in typical Devo style, describe a relationship marked by unrequited love/lust for a woman. "Girl U Want" was first performed in December 1979 in a similar arrangement to the album version.
In the music video, Devo performs for a group of young women in the style of a performance from The Ed Sullivan Show , with two robotic backup dancers, one male and one female. Further implying the televised nature of the performance, the color in the video is deliberately altered to make the red of the band's energy dome headgear look almost purple. The band wears the silver naugahyde suits from the cover of Freedom of Choice, and mime the song with Moog Liberation synthesizers.
During the video, the camera focuses on the girls in the audience exaggeratedly enjoying the performance, including one girl who is visually implied to "wet" herself, which transitions to a scene of General Boy controlling the backup dancers. At one point, Mark Mothersbaugh pulls aside the curtain behind the band to show an overweight man on a vibrating exercise machine, attempting to drink a milkshake to the ecstatic reaction of the audience. As the video ends, girls in the audience are shown holding signs with icons, including an electrical outlet.
Record World said that "A snakey guitar winds around the boisterous lead vocals that proclaim the winning hook." [3]
Steve Huey of AllMusic noted the song in a review of the album, stating: "Several tunes – like the oft-covered 'Girl U Want' – have a geeky (but pragmatic) romantic angst that was new to Devo albums, although the band's view of relationships is occasionally colored by their cultural themes of competition and domination." Huey also highlighted "Girl U Want" as an album standout by labeling it an AMG Pick Track. [4] Greg Prato of AllMusic reviewed the song itself, stating it was "definitely one of the most overlooked gems to surface from the early-'80s new wave movement". [5]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated "Girl U Want" as Devo's 7th best song, saying that the song is "about as catchy as Devo songs come" and that "the lyrics are a typical balance of the traditional crashing into the unexpected." [6]
| "Girl U Want" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Robert Palmer | ||||
| from the album Honey | ||||
| B-side | "No Fuss" | |||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Studio | Logic Studios (Milan, Italy) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:23 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Robert Palmer | |||
| Robert Palmer singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio video | ||||
| "Girl U Want" on YouTube | ||||
In 1994, "Girl U Want" was covered by English singer Robert Palmer. Produced solely by Palmer, the song was released as the lead single from his twelfth studio album Honey and reached number 57 in the UK Singles Chart. [7]
A music video was filmed and directed by Howard Greenhalgh to promote the single. [8] Palmer also performed the song on the UK music show Top of the Pops on June 16, 1994. [9] [10]
In a review of Honey, Lesley Mathew of AllMusic said, "Palmer himself sounds as inhumanly suave as ever, though much of the material is a prescription for déjà vu. Tracks like the funk-lashed cover of Devo's 'Girl U Want' are dead ringers for the stuff on the Riptide album." [11] People described Palmer's version as "head-banging new wave". [12]
7-inch single
CD single (UK/Netherlands release)
CD single (Japan release)
Production
Sleeve
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [13] | 118 |
| United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) [7] | 57 |
In 1981, Devo recorded an instrumental easy listening version of the song for a fan club distributed cassette tape. This version was popular enough to be performed live, with vocals, on the 1982 tour. In 1992, Soundgarden recorded the song. In 1995, a reunited Devo, joined by Bulimia Banquet vocalist Jula Bell, recorded a slowed-down version for the action comedy film Tank Girl . [14] The version with Bell and Devo singing is heard in the film's opening sequence, but the version on the soundtrack album is Devo without Bell. That same year, "Girl U Want" played during the ending credits of the parody film Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde . Another re-recording of "Girl U Want" was used for the music videogame Rock Band . In 2006, Devo re-recorded the song once again for Radio Disney's Devo 2.0 project, the track appearing as "Boy U Want", featuring 13-year-old Nicole Stoehr singing altered lyrics over the familiar backing tracks by Devo. [15] [16] Freelance Whales recorded a slow ballad version of "Girl U Want" in 2011 as the B-side of the rare vinyl-exclusive Split 7" EP in collaboration with Foals. [17]
Devo, often stylized as DEVO, is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales, along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", the song that gave the band mainstream popularity.
Freedom of Choice is the third studio album by the American new wave band Devo, released in May 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. The album contained their biggest hit, "Whip It", which hit No. 8 and No. 14 on the Billboard Club Play Singles and Pop Singles charts, respectively. Freedom of Choice peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
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Gerald Vincent Casale is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". Casale is the main lyricist and one of the primary composers of Devo's music, as well as the director of most of the band's music videos. He is one of only two members who have been with Devo throughout its entire history. Casale's brother Bob also performed with the band.
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in August 1978 on Warner Bros. in the North America and Virgin Records in Europe. Produced by Brian Eno, the album was recorded between October 1977 and February 1978, primarily in Cologne, West Germany.
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Devo 2.0 was a pop group quintet, created for Walt Disney Records, of child actors who sing, dance, and mime playing instruments along to songs re-recorded by some of the original members of Devo. Jerry Casale directed all nine of the videos. Actress Jacqueline Emerson, who later appeared in The Hunger Games, was a member. The band split up in 2007 when lead singer Nicole Stoehr and lead guitarist Nathan Norman quit.
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Honey is the twelfth studio album by English singer Robert Palmer. It was released in September 1994 and reached number 25 in the UK Albums Chart. The album featured the minor hits "Girl U Want", "Know by Now" and "You Blow Me Away".
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